1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hand manipulated trucks or dolly-like carts evolved to support and transport trash containers and the like to a place for trash and garbage pickup.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The conventional trash or garbage container is normally placed near the back door of residences, apartments, restaurants, stores and manufacturing facilities. With the exception of commercial and industrial usage where trucks equipped with front end lifts to upend large trash bins in the trucks most trash containers have to be hand carried. A heavy trash container is awkward for a man to carry and very difficult for a woman or youngster to carry to the alley or front curb for trash pickup. Furthermore, a hand carried trash can attracts dogs which frequently tip them over spreading garbage and refuse on the ground. This creates an unsightly mess to clean up. Sometimes the container and lid are tumbled in the alleyway and damaged by passing cars.
An efficient and lightweight trash container carrier is badly needed to serve the public. A search of the prior art disclosed that although several carts and the like have been devised few, if any, apparently lacked sufficient utility or market appeal to be produced and sold. Several are discussed here to point out some of the problems noted in construction and operation.
A cart for lidded cans is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,117 issued to Robert J. Williams. This device claims a wheeled support for several trash containers with hand removable lids. A longitudinally extending hold-down bar is pivotally suspended from two upright members stationed at the opposite ends of the cart. The hold-down bar stretches over the tops of the lid covered cans and by virtue of the aid of gravity holds the cans down on separated floor plates which have side flanges to hold the cans from sliding laterally but not any stops from sliding fore and aft. There are several features inherent in Williams' device which can create problems. In the first place a hold-down bar as described without sufficient means to keep it from bouncing up and down when the cart is wheeled over bumpy ground could be troublesome. For example, if the hold-down bar bounces and releases pressure from the lids the containers can slide off the plates in a longitudinal direction and together with a rocking motion induced by bumps may well slide laterally and tip over.
Hand removed lids are another problem. When the trash collector empties the container it is necessary to lift the hold-down bar and separate each lid from the container. The lid then is set or tossed aside and the container emptied. In returning the containers to the cart the lids may not be placed back on top of the containers. Thus, they are left laying in or along side an alley or curb and are often lost or damaged.
Another trash can holder is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,292,795 to J. W. Chappell. This device is a wheelbarrow type cart constructed of formed tubing. The frame is supported on two front wheels and the two rearwardly extending legs. The holder supports two trash cans and covering lids secured to a pair of opposite swinging arms rotatably supported to upright members fastened at each end of the holder. A hand-lifted and wheeled holder as disclosed by Chappell with two containers heavily loaded would certainly tax the strength of a woman. It is doubtful that she could lift the rear end or at best wheel the holder very far. Another part of the holder which is awkward to control is the rearward extending handle. The handle projects from the rear centrally mounted upright. To lift and push the holder a person has to grasp it with both hands and push from the front part of his body which is a difficult way to handle a wheelbarrow type of holder. Another disadvantage is that in placing the containers in the framework of the holder there is no device available to position the container so that it will rest in place for closure relative to the fixed position of the lid on the rotating arm except by manual movement. It appears that when the lid is lowered the container has to be moved directly under the descending lid; otherwise there is no means for registry of the two parts.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,235,213 issued to W. E. Hall discloses a wheeled truck or dolly on which are two trash containers placed at random settings on the floor. Similar to the prior references an upright member is installed on the rear and front end of the truck. An arm having one end fastened to the handle of a lid has the other end portion connected to a closed channel guide or track. An arm is slidably and rotatably connected to each upright by means of a bolt loosely engaged in the track and transversely connected to spaced apart flanges secured to each upright. In operation the action of the lid-connected arm is the reverse of the arm motion described for the Chappell device. Here the arm can be slid fore and aft and rotated vertically to place the lid on the top of the container. In both devices the effort to close a container with a lid is time consuming.
Although a novelty search disclosed other forms of trash container holders most, more or less, displayed similar features described in the above references.
In light of the above references it is the object of the present invention to provide a convertible trash container carrier that can be loaded, transported and unloaded with little effort. When unloading the lid can be automatically and quickly lifted upon raising an arm, the container removed and emptied, then replaced in a shallow recessed seat and the arm lowered to place the lid squarely upon the top of the container. Since the container and covering lid remain together on the carrier before loading and after unloading neither becomes separated, lost, damaged or tipped over by dogs. More importantly, the wheels can be retracted to set the side rails upon the ground for stationary positioning or in the region where snow is a problem the carrier can be hauled with the side rails becoming sled runners to a place of trash disposal.